Blog

Corning Museum of Glass – First Impressions

The Corning Museum of Glass (CMOG). This was the first place I visited when I moved to Corning. It’s one of the most well known attractions in our area, and visitors from around the world are there on a daily basis.

In the spirit of full disclosure, my girlfriend works at the CMOG. I hope to get her to participate in the blog by giving us the inside scoop on news & events.

I know there are probably a few people who live in the area that have just never been there. I grew up 45 min south of here, and I never made the trip up to visit. However, about a week ago, I walked across the bridge from my apartment in Corning and spent a Saturday afternoon exploring. This place blew my mind. First off, it was much bigger than I was expecting… I spent 4.5 hours here and still didn’t see half of it.I was amazed at how modern and beautiful it was inside and out. Take a look at the panoramic photo above. What you may not know is that the weird shaped add-on building (seen on the left of the above photo), is actually a flame when seen from the air (check it out this satellite view).

The schedule of shows is enough to keep you busy all day. I saw the glass blowing show twice (they made something different each time), and the glass breaking show was a lot of fun. I wandered through the collections and I was overwhelmed with all the great pieces. Everything was organized very well and they had a ton of great facts about a lot of their pieces. My favorite piece was the glass armonica (a musical instrument invented by Benjamin Franklin).

In the end I really felt like I came away with some good knowledge. After 4.5 hours and 2 soar legs later, I still didn’t get to a few of the shows, a couple of the galleries, and I only skimmed through the innovations section on my way to the cafe for lunch. I look forward to going back and I think I may take the audio tour next time, just for fun.

I will have more detailed articles of the museum and it’s various shows, exhibits, and events in the future. Hopefully, my girlfriend who works there, will take over as this blog’s official CMOG news and events writer.